The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has produced a database containing the details of nearly 10,000 solar projects that have participated in the state agency's open enrollment solar incentive programs over the past 10 years, including the large ramp-up of solar under the NY-Sun Initiative championed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The PV program data is publicly available on Open NY, the state's open data portal.

‘Information about solar installations can be extremely valuable to prospective customers and to solar installers and the solar industry seeking to grow their businesses,’ says John B. Rhodes, president and CEO of NYSERDA.

According to NYSERDA, companies in the solar sector use such information to see which areas of the state to target based on where there is room for growth and expansion. In addition, the New York Independent System Operator can use the data to see the impact of solar on the grid by geographic area, solar product manufacturers can use it to understand their market share in the state, and academic researchers can use it for analysis.

Included in the data set are project applications and installations between 2003 and 2014 through NYSERDA's open enrollment solar PV programs, which provide incentives to help reduce the installed cost of residential PV systems of up to 25 kW and non-residential systems of up to 200 kW.

Since Cuomo launched NY-Sun in 2012, a total of 316 MW of solar PV capacity has been installed or is under contract, more than was installed in the entire prior decade. Recently, funding of nearly $1 billion was authorized through 2023 to meet a statewide target of 3 GW of installed capacity.

Earlier this week, the White House pointed out the usefulness of online databases and mapping tools to help identify opportunities for expanding renewable energy systems deployment.